


The Truth Will Set You Free

by E350tb



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s03e24 Bismuth, F/F, F/M, Gen, Mystery, Quartz Sibs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E350tb/pseuds/E350tb
Summary: There was a tension in the air as the newcomer stared at Garnet and Pearl, and as they stared back. In his mind, Steven ran through scenarios of what might happen - maybe she was an old friend! Maybe Pearl was going to squeal her name and hug her, and Garnet would share old war stories, and he’d have a brand new friend to hang around with, and-“Bismuth.”Garnet’s voice was low, and Steven immediately realised something was terribly wrong.
Relationships: Amethyst/Peridot (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Comments: 27
Kudos: 103





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I have a pretty good idea where I'm going with this. Here's hoping you like it!

Steven Universe gingerly took the hand of the big, rainbow-haired gem, offering her a reassuring smile as he gently led her out of Lion’s mane. The bigger gem offered a somewhat nervous smile back as she was lowered through the pink grass.

Lion reacted with alarm as they both climbed out of his mane, his eyes wide. A giant foot creaked on the wooden floor, then another. Steven felt his breath catch as the newcomer stood up to her full height, gazing towards the Crystal Gems. Her jaw slackened - was it wonder or fear? Steven couldn’t rightly tell.

“Oh wow,” said Amethyst dryly. “A total stranger.”

There was a tension in the air as the newcomer stared at Garnet and Pearl, and as they stared back. In his mind, Steven ran through scenarios of what might happen - maybe she was an old friend! Maybe Pearl was going to squeal her name and hug her, and Garnet would share old war stories, and he’d have a brand new friend to hang around with, and-

“Bismuth.”

Garnet’s voice was low, and Steven immediately realised something was terribly wrong.

‘Bismuth’s’ hand slipped away from his, clenching into a fist. Steven backed up, a chill running down his spine as he watched her face twist into a frown, her brow furrowing. He exchanged a glance with Amethyst - she shrugged, confused.

“ _You,_ ” the newcomer growled.

In a flash, Garnet and Pearl had their weapons out.

“Amethyst,” said Pearl, “take Steven and go to the van.”

“What?” exclaimed Amethyst. “What’s going on, P? Who is this?”

“Just go.” Garnet’s tone was absolutely final.

“Wait, what’s happening? Who is this?” asked Steven. “I-”

He was cut off as Bismuth shot forward, her hands turning into hammers as she charged Garnet. The fusion sidestepped at the last moment, but Bismuth was able to catch herself, spinning around and skidding across to the warp pad.

“That all you got, Garnet?” she snapped. “What’s the matter, can’t fight without Rose backing you up? Show me what you got!”

“With pleasure!”

Pearl leapt into the air, spear held over her head, and stabbed downwards towards Bismuth. The bigger gem reached up, grabbing the spear and spinning it around into the fridge - Pearl crashed in a cloud of dust and broken steel.

Amethyst made her move, grabbing Steven and throwing him over her shoulders. He yelped in complaint, but she was out the door in a flash, darting down the steps and along the beach towards the car wash…

* * *

“...and that should do it!”

Greg put down the hose, motioning towards the sparking Mayor’s van. It had been a long job, but Mayor Dewey seemed satisfied - he nodded and crossed his arms, smiling.

“Fine job, Universe,” he said, handing him five dollars. “Now, remember to vote Dewey this November!”

“Can I get a tax break for a job well done?” asked Greg as Dewey strolled to the cab.

“Don’t push your luck!” Dewey called back.

With the roar of an engine and a chime of ‘ _Ma-yor De-wey_ ,’ the van was off.

“Finally,” said Greg, walking to the back of his van and sitting himself down on the end, “a moment to relax.”

“ _Greg!_ ”

“ _Dad!_ ”

“Oh well,” said Greg wearily as he watched Amethyst and Steven run towards him.

Amethyst reached the van, unceremoniously dumping Steven on Greg’s mattress. She turned around to go back, but was stopped by Greg’s hand on her shoulder.

“Steven! Amethyst! What’s going on?” he asked.

“New gem!” shouted Steven.

“She’s attacking Garnet and Pearl!” added Amethyst. “I have to get back before-”

There was a loud crash; Greg could see a plume of smoke burst up from the other side of the cliff, just about where the Temple would be. He swallowed - he’d need his relaxation CD before the sun was down, he just knew it.

“Whoa, are you sure you should be going back there?” he asked.

“She should!” said Steven frantically. “ _I_ should! I-we need everyone, I gotta call Connie, I gotta call Peridot, I-do you think Lapis will come? Maybe I should…”

“Steven! Breathe!” Greg put his hands on Steven’s shoulders. “You can’t just run back in there without a plan, kiddo!”

“But I can!” shouted Amethyst. “Don’t wait up, I’ll be-”

_Whump!_

The ground shook, and Greg tumbled down onto his face. He could hear the sound of falling rocks and masonry, and just a little bit of splintering wood.

By the time he got up again, Amethyst had darted off, and Steven was already running after her, frantically dialing his phone as he went. Greg swallowed and took off after them, wincing as he found himself getting winded almost immediately. Vidalia was right, he did need to start attending that aerobics class.

At last he reached the beach house… or rather, where it _had_ been.

His jaw dropped as he surveyed the damage. The lighthouse had tumbled down the cliffside, landing right on top of the poor house’s roof and crushing the kitchen. The half that remained intact was in a very bad shape too, with all the windows broken and more holes in the wooden walls than Swiss cheese. Pearl was limping towards them, battered and bruised - she carried a pair of gemstones in her hands.

“ _Garnet!_ ” Steven exclaimed, running towards her.

“Where’d the other gem go?!” demanded Amethyst.

Pearl shook her head.

“She left on foot,” she replied. “She smashed up the warp pad and poofed Garnet before she ran off. If she’d made it to another pad, she could be anywhere by now.”

“Will she be okay?” asked Steven, looking worriedly at Ruby and Sapphire’s gems.

Pearl smiled, ruffling his hair.

“She’ll be fine, Steven,” she replied.

“So who was that?” asked Amethyst. “Aside from being ‘Bismuth?’”

Pearl thinned her lips - for a moment, she hesitated.

“She’s… a very powerful Homeworld soldier,” she said. “Very powerful, and very _dangerous._ She sh… _poofed_ dozens of gems during the war. In the end, Rose had to ambush her to have any hope of stopping her. I’d thought she’d packed her away for good…” 

Steven’s hand went right to his gem, squeezing it slightly through his shirt. Pearl shook her head.

“Steven, I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t want you trying to find her, okay?” she said. “Bismuth is _very_ dangerous, and I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

“Yeah, Steven, you can’t-” Amethyst paused. “Wait, _either_ of us?”

Pearl nodded. “You had trouble with Jasper,” she said. “Bismuth is ten times the opponent she is. No, Amethyst, I’ll need you to help keep Steven safe, okay?”

“You’re _sidelining_ me?” exclaimed Amethyst.

“Please, Amethyst, this is important,” snapped Pearl. “Steven needs someone to look after him in case Bismuth or Jasper come back. Do you understand?”

“I…”

Amethyst pouted, crossing her arms.

“Sure, whatever Pearl.”

“Uh, I don’t mean to butt in,” said Greg, meekly raising his arm. “But where’s Steven going to _live?_ It’s gonna take ages to fix that mess up! And that’s _before_ Mayor Dewey starts asking about the lighthouse… I’m glad I’m rich right now…”

“You can stay at the barn with Peridot,” said Pearl. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to have you!”

“Sleepover!” exclaimed Steven brightly.

“Oh, _yay,_ ” grunted Amethyst.

“Then it’s settled,” declared Pearl. “Garnet and I will check in when we can. Don’t worry, we’ll have this Bismuth mess settled before you know it; I have a few ideas as to where she might hide, and…”

Greg turned her out, glancing down at Amethyst. The small quartz seemed very much out of ease; maybe she was chafing at her restrictions or upset at being left out (he empathised completely), but something told him there was more to her concern than met the eye…

* * *

“Dang,” said Buck.

 _That’s an understatement,_ Jenny thought. The Pizza car sat sadly on the side of the road, leaning slightly forward and to the right. The cause? A flat tire, and they had no jack with which to lift the car. Sour Cream had made a brave effort of lifting it himself, but it was never going to happen.

They were forty minutes out of Beach City and there was no phone reception - the nearest roadside assistance telephone was two miles back. Jenny was steeling herself up for a long walk when the bushes by the road suddenly rustled.

“Something wrong?”

A giant head with a friendly smile burst out of the woods, her rainbow hair blowing gently in the wind.

“Oh, hey!” said Jenny. “You one of Steven’s gem aunts?”

The gem blinked.

“...I dunno, I could be,” she shrugged. “Problem with your… thingamajig?”

“Tire’s flat,” replied Sour Cream. “I can change it, but we don’t have any way of lifting it up.”

“Leave that to me!”

The gem knelt down and effortlessly lifted the side of the car with one hand, shooting the Cool Kids a thumbs up with the other.

“Now that’s rad,” said Buck.

“That’s really nice of you!” exclaimed Jenny, as Sour Cream went to get the spare tire. “But you didn’t need to do that, we would’ve worked something…”

“Hey, it’s my pleasure,” replied the gem. “This stuff is my _Bismuth_.”

Jenny blinked.

“That’s my name.”

“ _Oooooh._ ”

“But yeah,” said Bismuth, smiling. “Whatever you need. I love humans!”

She chuckled, and there was a slight undercurrent of bitterness.

“After all, I fought for them for a thousand years…”


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [realfakedoors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realfakedoors/pseuds/realfakedoors) for proofreading. Read her fics, or the birthday skeleton is coming for you.

**Two**

Peridot pursed her lips.

“A _Bismuth_?” she repeated. “Hmm…”

“Are they some kind of super strong warrior gem?” asked Steven nervously.

“Strong? Yes,” replied Peridot. “But _warrior?_ No, Bismuths are builders.”

Greg had dropped Steven and Amethyst off at the barn the previous night, much to the little green gem’s pleasure. She had taken to the idea of an ‘extended slumber party’ with gusto, inviting them to her Thursday-nightly Camp Pining Hearts watch session (without the option of saying no.) Steven hadn’t even been able to sleep until the wee hours of the morning, let alone explain to Peridot and Lapis exactly why they’d had to relocate so suddenly.

“They’re picky sometimes.” Lapis furrowed her brow. “Like, ‘ _oh I can’t build that tower there, you haven’t made the ground firm enough._ ’”

“They have exacting standards,” nodded Peridot. “That’s why Homeworld’s buildings are so secure.”

Her eyes widened.

“N-not that this barn isn’t secure!” she exclaimed. “I-it’s sturdy and well built given the primitive nature of it’s… well, not _primitive,_ let’s say _rustic_ , I…”

“So if Bismuths just build things, why’s this one got Pearl all freaked out?” asked Amethyst.

“Maybe this is a different kind of Bismuth,” mused Steven.

“Hmm… a lot of Era 1 records were classified above my clearance level,” replied Peridot.

“I knew Bismuths and they weren’t soldiers,” said Lapis, shaking their head. “Well, unless they joined the Rebellion…”

“But Pearl says this Bismuth worked for Homeworld…” Steven scratched his chin.

“She’s holding out on us.”

All eyes fell on Amethyst, who was pacing by the door.

“She doesn’t think we’re mature enough or strong enough to know,” she growled. “So she made up this story to try and keep us from digging up the truth.”

“But what truth?” asked Steven. “What would be bad enough that she’d lie…”

“She’s a spy,” said Lapis bluntly.

There was a long silence.

“Lapis,” said Amethyst. “Pearl is _not_ a spy.”

“No,” replied Lapis. “But Bismuth is. That’s why she doesn’t want you two to know about her. She betrayed the rebellion, so she wants to pretend she was never on it’s side to begin with.”

Steven, Amethyst and Peridot exchanged glances.

“Hmm,” said Peridot. “That does make some sense…”

“I mean, I guess if P’s _hurt…_ ” Amethyst crossed her arms. “Still wish she’d just be _honest._ ”

Steven sighed.

“Yeah,” he said. “But she just wants to keep us safe…”

“Yeah, ‘cause they’re so freaking good at it,” snorted Amethyst. “Remember when she tried to make Connie your battle slave and let you fall off a floating rock, or when Garnet told you about future vision and you had a nervous breakdown?”

“So what do we do?” asked Steven.

“I dunno, lie down on the roof?” Lapis shrugged. “That’s what I’m gonna do.”

She flew off, leaving the other three alone.

“I mean, we need to find Bismuth, right?” said Steven. “We need to get her to talk to Garnet and Pearl - maybe we can work something out? I mean, they don’t have to be friends, but at least if they make peace…”

“Interesting suggestion with one noticable flaw,” replied Peridot flatly. “One; she’s almost certainly going to fight us on sight. Two; she’s almost certainly going to fight us on sight.”

“That’s one flaw,” said Steven.

“Yes, but it’s a very big flaw.”

“Then we train,” declared Amethyst. “We have to get stronger, in case Bismuth comes back and _does_ try to fight us… or for when Jasper wants a rematch.”

“You mean when _you_ want a rematch,” said Peridot.

“Peridot, I will punt you through a wall.”

“What’s punting?”

Steven swallowed. “I mean, I guess we can do a little light training. You know, just a little exercise…”

“...what on _Earth_ happened to you?” exclaimed Dr. Maheswaran.

Steven lifted the icepack from his bruised cheek. “Fell off the back of a pickup.”

“Was it _stationary?_ ”

“Yes,” said Steven, leaving out the fact that it was embedded in the barn wall.

Dr. Maheswaran thinned her lips. “Well, if you need a new icepack, I keep a few in the freezer,” she said. “Connie will show you where. Just… take care, okay?”

She was out the front door before Steven could say anymore, leaving him and Connie alone in the Maheswaran’s living room.

“So,” asked Connie, “you wanna fill me in?”

Steven did so, making sure to explain the holes Peridot had pointed out in Pearl’s description of Bismuth. When he was finished, Connie let out a long _‘hmmm._ ’

“What’s wrong?” asked Steven.

“Nothing’s _wrong,_ ” replied Connie, “but this reminds me of something Dad told me.”

She sat down, patting the spot on the couch next to her. Steven eagerly took the invitation to sit.

“Last night he was on duty out at Delmar, up at the railroad yard,” she explained. “He said he saw this big, purple, rainbow-haired woman helping them load up a boxcar. He said he thought it was one of your ‘aunts.’”

“That sounds like her!” Steven sat up, horrified. “Is he okay? Did the railroad workers…”

“She didn’t attack anyone,” replied Connie. “Apparently she was just… hanging out with them? Singing their songs and stuff, just… being human?”

Steven furrowed his brow.

“But Pearl said she was really dangerous,” he said.

“And what do you think?” asked Connie.

“Well, she wrecked my house.”

“Right,” Connie bit her lip. “ _Buuuuut_ she thought it was a Crystal Gem base, right?”

“I mean, I guess it kinda is,” agreed Steven.

He sat back down, visibly deflated.

“I just wish I could ask _her_ about this,” he said. “Maybe then this might make sense.”

“Well, where do you think she might go next?” asked Connie.

“I have no idea,” shrugged Steven.

His eyes widened and she shot up.

“But Peridot might!”

“Beta Kindergarten.”

“Beta what now?”

Peridot had flung a map of the country on the floor and was now pointing furiously at it with the blunt end of a broom. It was now a new day; Steven, Connie and Amethyst were studying the map intently, the latter particularly nonplussed.

“I thought my kindergarten was the only one,” she said.

“Of course not,” replied Peridot. “The demand for new soldiers outstripped the Alpha Kindergarten’s production capabilities. They needed a second one; one of markedly _inferior_ quality, might I add. I mean, it produced Jasper, and she’s a low-quality clod if I ever saw-”

“ _Jasper’s from Earth?!_ ” exclaimed Amethyst.

Peridot blinked.

“I digress,” she said. “Bismuth would have to go somewhere where Pearl and Garnet wouldn’t think to look. Beta is isolated and of little strategic value, but it’s also large enough for her to hide - on top of that, it has warp access. Unless Bismuth has gone entirely off the warp grid, in which case we’d never find her, the Beta Kindergarten is our best bet.”

“No, hold up, no ‘I digress’ bull,” snapped Amethyst. “Jasper came from Earth this whole time?”

“Yes, from the inferior kindergarten,” replied Peridot. “That’s why you’re a thousand times the gem she’ll ever be - Alpha’s production quality was _infinitely_ better…”

“Show me!” exclaimed Amethyst. “I’ve gotta see this Beta!”

Peridot scratched her chin.

“Hmm… well, it shouldn’t be too hard to warp there,” she said. “And I think it’ll be good for you! It’ll show you just how much better you are than that Beta clod!”

“Uh, guys?” Steven interrupted. “Are you sure we should be worrying about Jasper right now?”

“Uh, _yeah?_ ” replied Amethyst. “If we can deal with Jasper, that’s one of our problems solved! And if Bismuth’s there, that’s both of them dealt with at once!”

“...are you totally sure we should take on _both_ Bismuth and Jasp-”

Steven was cut off as Amethyst grabbed his hand, sprinting for the nearest warp pad. For a moment, Connie and Peridot exchanged glances.

“Well, looks like we’re going on a field trip!” said Peridot brightly, jogging after them.

“Are you sure we… hey, wait up!” Connie raced after her, determined not to be left behind.


End file.
